ELA+period+9b

=Jim Crow=

Jim Crow laws were the local and state laws established in the Southern and border states of the United States enforced between 1876 and 1964 which made racial segregation, especially with African-Americans, obligatory. More accurately, the Jim Crow era or Jim Crow period refers to the time when these laws were in effect.

Origins
> The term //Jim Crow// derives from a song performed by Thomas Dartmouth Daddy Rice, a white minstrel show entertainer in the 1830's. This man covered his face with charcoal paste or burnt cork, and then sanged and danced caricaturing a silly black person. The song was named Jump Jim Crow. This character became a stereotypical image of blacks in American culture at the time, and ended being identified with the racist laws and actions which deprived African Americans of their civil rights by defining them as inferior to whites.

Background and History
> Following the American Civil War, Southern States' legislatures, dominated by white ex-Confederates, abolished all laws regarding slavery, but attempted to limit the new rights and freedoms of formerly enslaved African-Americans by passing a group of laws known as the //black codes//. The North opposed these codes and the Federal Government later declared them illegal, so they never came into effect. The country passed the [|Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments], alongside two Civil Rights Acts and various Enforcement Acts in the early 1870's, guaranteeing their civil rights and the right to vote. Some Southern groups, like the [|Ku Klux Klan] and other similar organizations, reacted violently to these changes and carried out a vicious and illicit war against southern blacks and their Republican supporters. They were generally suppressed by the Federal Government until 1877 using federal troops and courts.

After the Compromise of 1877
> Following tight Presidential elections, the Republican party reached an agreement with the Democrats, known as the [|Compromise of 1877], in which Democrats allowed the Republican candidate to become President without opposition with the condition, among others, of the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. This literally meant abandoning the efforts to maintain African-American rights in the South. Many Democrats also starting to come to power in Southern States. From 1877 onwards, civil rights laws in the South were gradually reversed. Mob lynchings became more common during the 1880's. The most important and numerous Jim Crow laws were passed in the 1890's. By 1915, all the freedoms and priviledges blacks had gained in the South after the Civil War had been completely destroyed.


 * Carlos P.** user:deaki

The Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow Laws were a set of Laws, put into effect at different times all around the country, that limited African American rights and privileges in every day life. These made segregation, which was already very strongly supported in the south, a law. They required things like separate restaurants for black and white people, separate water fountains, and even separate playgrounds for African American and Caucasian children. Where these laws stopped, regular customs began, in that, for example, only a white man would be referred to as Mister, or only a white woman as Miss. It was also unheard of for a black man to so much as look at a white woman under almost, if not definitely, any circumstances.

Opposing the Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow laws created many problems for African Americans, such as having to eat in certain restaurants, or having to drink from special water fountains. There were a few solutions, temporary as they were, to the Jim Crow laws being in effect.

The Great Migration
The Jim Crow Laws had a huge impact on the southern states, however, in the North, there were jobs to have, and places to live. Plantation owners did not like the fact that most of the workers were moving away. Many owners tried to encourage black people to stay with promises of better pay and better treatment. Some others went on to board trains going to the north, and beat black people that were moving away. Over one million African Americans took part in this migration to find a better home. Northern labor agents were coming to the South to try and get more people to join the migration, and find places in society in the north.

All Black Towns
Eventually, as problems got worse, African Americans turned to the idea of creating an all black town. They realized these dreams inside cites like those in Oklahoma. They eventually wanted to create an all black state, but this was never realized. People in these towns now depended on each other for things like every day life needs.


 * Samuel B.**